


New Beginning

by myth_taken



Series: Who Needs Magic When We Have High School [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 15:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8584198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myth_taken/pseuds/myth_taken
Summary: Buffy Summers has her first day at a new school, featuring the popular girl she'd like to be friends with, three dorks she's going to be friends with, and some weirdo in a trench coat. The mundane high school AU that BTVS has never needed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> yes, i know, the show is set in high school. leave me olone.

“Welcome to Sunnydale High,” the principal said, ushering Buffy into his office. “You will find this to be a tolerable place to spend your years, assuming you are not one of the many, many teenagers who makes poor decisions regarding your work, life, and health. Any questions?”

Buffy looked around. “Yeah. Why did you choose the color of lukewarm pea soup for your office? Were all the good ones taken?”

The principal’s face darkened, and when he spoke, it was with an obvious menace. “I can see we’ll get along famously, Miss Summers.” He stood up. “However, if there are no more useful questions, I’ll introduce you to the detentionee of the day, Cordelia Chase.”

He stood up and led Buffy from his office into the adjoining main office, where a girl with long brown hair and the cutest dress Buffy had ever seen was standing, chewing gum and looking bored. Once Buffy came out of the principal’s office, though, her bored look turned into one of interest as she looked Buffy up and down. “Is this the fresh meat?”

“That would be me,” Buffy said.

The principal made one last remark of, “You’d better behave yourself with her, Miss Chase,” before retreating back to his office.

“Well,” Cordelia said, “welcome to Sunnydale! As you can tell, we have all the makings of a medieval prison: evil jailer, weird smells,  _ and _ we even have gray walls.”

“Sounds lovely,” Buffy said.

Cordelia leveled a stare at Buffy. “It really isn’t. Anyway, ready for the tour?”

Buffy nodded, and Cordelia led her out of the office.

Twenty minutes later, they were in a random hallway, wading through students as classes began. Buffy noticed a girl in a strapless black shirt and purple lipstick, and so did Cordelia, evidently, since she looked the girl up and down before loudly announcing, “Wow, Faith’s dressed like a slut today. Perfect for the first day back from winter break, right, Buffy?”

Buffy looked at Cordelia, then back at Faith, then said, “I don’t really care what she wears. Although I will say that those jeans are pretty cute.”

Faith shrugged. “What can I say? I wear what I want. And it’s  _ all _ cute.”

“Well, Buffy, if you want to be friends with trash, I’ll leave you here,” Cordelia said, her tone even nastier than her words.

Buffy looked at Faith. “Trash looks okay to me.”

Cordelia sauntered off, and Faith narrowed her eyes.

“Don’t need protecting, B.”

Faith walked away, leaving Buffy in the middle of a crowded hall. She managed to find her first hour, at least. Geometry. The teacher had put sticky notes with names on each table, and she slid into her seat in the front row next to a tag proclaiming her new desk buddy to be Alexander Harris.

Alexander Harris walked in late, his hair messy, full of excuses. Sitting down, he took one look at Buffy and gave a satisfied nod. Buffy looked back, suddenly glad that class had started and this boy couldn’t try to talk to her.

He did manage it at the end of class, though, with a, “Hi. Your name’s--” he looked down at the sticky note-- “Buphemia?”

Buffy pulled the sticky note off the desk and crumpled it. “Yeah, it’s Buffy.”

“Good call.” He stuck out a hand. “Xander Harris. You’re new, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Okay, well, I was just going to say, if you ever need help, my best friend is really good at this school thing. Kind of got me through algebra, actually.”

“It’s the first day of the semester.”

“Yeah, but there’s still catch up. Be honest. Did you understand anything Mrs. Cotello was saying just now?”

Buffy raised her eyebrows. “Um… yeah?”

Xander laughed. “I guess it’s just me, huh. Anyway, if you do need help, find us outside at lunch. Or, you know, even if you don’t. We don’t bite. Or at least I don’t.”

“Well, it’s not like I have other friends yet.”

Buffy left class pleasantly surprised, a mood which did not carry through the rest of the day.

Cordelia, who had quickly begun an anti-Buffy crusade, was in both her second and third hours, and between the two, a boy in all black walked up to her and started talking with no particular greeting.

“You’re new here.”

“Yeah?” Buffy kept walking, and the boy walked with her, his long coat flapping.

“Stay away from Cordelia. She’s toxic.”

“What about you?”

“I’m no one. Careful in English class. The teachers here are cruel.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Buffy walked purposely faster, and the boy peeled off into another class.

At lunch, she did look for Xander outside. He was sitting with his back to a tree, laughing with a few other people. Buffy slid into the circle and waved at everybody. She didn’t speak until Xander said, “Buffy! I’m glad you could join us.”

“For such a big school, there are surprisingly few people willing to make friends with the new girl,” Buffy said.

“Their loss,” Xander shrugged. “Anyway, this is Willow, Oz, and Jesse.”

“Hi, guys,” Buffy said, looking around at her new companions. “What’s up?”

“Xander was just telling us that there was a new girl,” Willow answered. “But now we see the new girl, so there doesn’t need to be any more telling from Xander.”

“It’s not like we hadn’t heard,” Jesse added.

“News spreads fast,” Oz remarked.

“Yeah, this is a lot smaller than my old school.”

“Common sentiment,” Oz said.

“Really?” Willow asked. “I’ve never been to any other schools, except, you know, middle school and elementary school, and those were the same as this but with younger kids.”

“No, don’t you remember? We had that new guy last year who was completely floored by it.”

Willow turned to look at Oz, moving her face closer in confusion. “When?”

“Last year. He was a junior.”

“Oh, we don’t associate with juniors,” Xander said. “Too big. And slightly scary.”

“You’re going to be one next year,” Willow reminded him. “You’d better get ready to be too big and slightly scary.”

“Hey, I’m a junior now,” Oz protested. “And I’m shorter than half the girls in my grade.”

“You don’t count,” Xander told him.

“Okay, so, subject change,” Buffy interrupted. “Who’s that guy in all black with the long coat?”

Everyone looked at each other.

“Do you mean Angel?” Willow asked.

“His name’s  _ Angel _ ?” Buffy laughed. “I have never met anyone  _ less _ angelic.”

“How’d you get him to talk?” Jesse asked. “I have never heard him talk.”

“I read his poetry in sixth grade,” Willow said. “Remember when we did that partnership with the eighth graders? I hope he’s gotten rid of some of that angst.”

“Wow,” Buffy said. “I didn’t even have to get him to talk. He just walked up to me and started chatting.”

“I think that means he likes you,” Willow told her. She lowered her voice. “He doesn’t really like very many people.”

“He has an epic rivalry with the other guy with a long coat,” Jesse added.

“I think he feels threatened,” Xander said.

“Maybe Spike’s coat is longer than his,” Willow said. “Maybe he wants to steal it.”

“And you know what they say about a man’s emo trench coat,” Xander answered.

Willow gasped. “Xander! Stop saying bad things in front of the new girl! She might not want to hang out with us anymore.”

Buffy laughed. “Believe it or not, I’ve heard dirty jokes before.”

Willow deflated. “Oh. Okay. But still!”

“The lady has spoken,” Xander answered. “I may say whatever I please.”

The rest of the day was okay, after that. Buffy had friends, even if they weren’t the cool kids she’d known back in L. A., and she could tell that these were people she could keep.

When she got home, she hefted her backpack onto the counter and leaned against it. Her mom immediately started asking questions, beginning with, “How was your day, sweetheart?”

“Oh, it was good,” answered Buffy. “Made some friends, maybe some enemies, was talked at by a really weird guy in a trench coat. All in all, more or less of the normal.”

The look that her mom gave her was strange, to say the least, but Buffy didn’t mind. She just hummed as she bounced up the stairs to her new bedroom. She thought she might like Sunnydale.


End file.
